One on One with Kevin 'the Monster' Randleman - 11/1/2003
by Tony Caiazzo

It's been almost ten months since we've seen Kevin 'The Monster' Randleman fight. It started to seem like he was disappearing from the MMA scene. Well, nothing could be further from the truth. The Monster is back and he's ready to show the world that he belongs back in the mix for the Pride FC middleweight title picture. Let's get right to it!

Tony: Did you do anything different to get ready for Sakuraba?
Kevin Randleman: Well, all I can say is this. Remember when I fought Ninja?

Tony: Yep
Kevin: Was I in shape?

Tony: I'm not going to tell you that you weren't! (both laugh)
Kevin: I thought I was in great shape! I trained with Sal, and you saw what I did to Ninja. I went back down to Texas and I trained with Sal again. Sal told me I'm in way better shape than I was when I fought Ninja. My hands are good, my conditioning is good and I'm stronger than ever.

Tony: That's excellent. Do you feel like you have any additional pressure on you? Like this is a "must win" fight considering your fight with Rampage didn't go the way you had wanted it to?
Kevin: No. And I'm gonna put this on the line right now. I'm GONNA beat Rampage the next time we fight. I'm gonna beat Chuck Liddell the next time we fight. I'm gonna beat Wanderlei Silva. I'm the low man on the totem pole because I f****d up and didn't take Rampage seriously. But I can guarantee you this, on my word and on my honor there is not one 205-pounder in this f****n business that would not be scared to fight me. They know that I hit hard and they know it's hard to hit me. People get lucky and beat me and I beat myself. So no, I don't believe this is a must win situation, and believe me. I'm gonna crush Sakuraba.

Tony: All right!
Kevin: There's no doubt in my mind, and the minds of all those sitting around me that Sakuraba is nothing. I mean, I love him and he's a good guy and all, but I have a totally different attitude. I don't have any friends in this sport. This time when I go to Japan, I'm not shaking any hands, I'm not kissing any babies. I'm kickin ass and that's it. This is my job, and I take my job very seriously. Before I was having fun, everyone knew that I liked to go out and have fun. I talked to everyone and I might have been a little Repunky, but I'm more mature now and I can't stand Repunky. I've grown up. I almost died a few months ago. I've re-evaluated things, I'm more mature. This is my livelihood, and it's different.

Tony: After you fight Sakuraba, what are your plans?
Kevin: I plan on fighting the loser between Rampage Jackson and Chuck Liddell.

Tony: And who do you think is going to win the Grand Prix?
Kevin: Rampage Jackson or Chuck Liddell.

Tony: Alright. Now where did the name "The Monster" come from?
Kevin: Believe it or not, I was called The Monster when I was a kid. They'd call the house and say "Your son is just a Monster Mrs. Randleman." (Both laugh) I've had many names, they called me Rambro, and many names. But the name just stuck. I think I was in the UFC and I took my clothes off and they said "Geez, this guy looks like a f****n monster." Then it just stuck.

Tony: I read about that car accident that you had, and about how long ago did that happen?
Kevin: It was about two and a half months ago.

Tony: Oh wow! That's it?
Kevin: Yup.

Tony: You didn't suffer any long term injuries from that?
Kevin: No no, I had no broken bones, and it's actually an amazing story. My engine got thrown on me. I had a seizure. I had just gotten done with a wrestling tour in Japan, and when I was there I lost 23 pounds because of the humidity. I didn't realize how tired I was. I was still on Japanese time, I got home I ate and I was driving down the highway. Ended up going 120 mph and ended up under a semi. It tore my SUV up, tore the hood of my car off and hit me in the head. It tore the side of my head off. My skull was exposed I got 190 stitches in the right side of my head. My engine was on top of my chest, I had to push my engine off of me and move out of the back cause it ripped my car apart. And you know how big SUV's are.

Tony: What kind of SUV was it?
Kevin: I had a Lex.

Tony: So you had a pretty good sized engine on you then.
Kevin: Yes, and when I was pushing that off me, I didn't realize that the metal was cutting right through my right arm. This is why I'm a totally different person. And I'm going on record right now to say that there is not one motherfuckin 205-fighter that can beat me. And yes, I got beat by Chuck Liddell, I got beat by Rampage, I got beat by Randy Couture. You see that fight with Randy Couture?

Tony: Of course
Kevin: I loved watching him fight Tito. I fought Randy Couture WAY better than Tito did! I was just an out of shape sonofabitch. My head was on wrong. I was so full of myself, I thought I was the man, and I realized I wasn't the man. You know, you bein involved with Mixed Martial Arts, you understand that your head can get ahead of you. My head got ahead of me, got all swollen and I thought I was the man. Then I got beat. I had problems at home, had all kinds of stuff. Different stuff. But right now? Where I am in my life is just such a perfect place. I train with the greatest trainers in Sal and Marc Coleman. Sal is one of the greatest trainers, I'm down there training with Ricco Rodriguez, I'm training with Sam Adkins, I'm training with Tim Crainer (sp?) I'm training with kickboxers, I'm learning kicking. In the (video) game I kick good. In real life, I kick just as good now.

Tony: Working all areas?
Kevin: Yeah. I'm a totally different person now. That was as close to death as I've ever come. I've been shot, stabbed, but never this close. I had that engine on top of me, I woke up and I was just like, "F**k, not like this!" And all I could think was that if I could get out of that engine I would change my life, and I did. I don't drink. I used to be one of them party animals. I used to go out and have fun. I don't go out anymore. I say my rosaries every morning when I wake up and before I go to sleep. I've rededicated myself to being a champion again, because I am a champion.

Tony: That sounds like a great mindset to have.
Kevin: Yeah, and I'm going on the record to say right now that anyone that beat me in the last year, they're done. I'm gonna knock Sakuraba out. I'm gonna knock him out in 8 minutes. It's not going the full ten minutes, and I guarantee you that. I will split Sakuraba somewhere on his face, and I will cut him open. I hit too hard, and I'm a mean son-of-a-gun, and I have a new lease on life because I came so close to death.

Tony: Yeah and if you took a Lexus hood to the head, I don't think Sakuraba is going to be able to do anything like that to you.
Kevin: Exactly. I'm training with boxers. I respect all the fighters in this, but I want my respect back. I let people take my respect from me. Rampage didn't beat me. I beat myself. I was stupid. I went there thinking I could lose weight like I did college. And when I got to Japan I weighed 226 pounds. I had to cut down to 205, and I cut down to 205 in twenty hours. The day I fought Quinton Jackson I was up to 231. That's why I looked so slow and sluggish. But I don't do that no more. My weight is 215 and that's where it stays. And it's no problem for me to get down to 205 and put that weight back on and stay healthy.

Tony: Yeah, cutting 10 pounds is different than cutting 26 pounds.
Kevin: AND putting back on thirty. That was stupid of me. I'm tired of giving people credit. I'm tired of it. I'm not giving anyone credit anymore. I beat myself. Yeah these guys beat me but I guarantee you that the next time I fight it's done. My hands are better than everyone I've fought. I fought Randy and stunned him with the hands. I fought Quinton and you saw that I stunned him with my hands too. But I was trying to get him down and I was so tired I was just fatigued. I'm not takin nothin away from none of them, but I'm a totally different motherf*****r now than I was then. My mind is different. I train different. Mark's just had his neck surgery and we're training like animals again. Instead of sitting in my hometown, lettin my friends and family get under my skin, I'm in Texas gettin under other people's skin. (both laugh)
Tony: That's the way it should be. (both laugh)

Kevin: And I guarantee you, Sakuraba isn't going to last the first f****n round.
Tony: Now I heard something about you filming a movie? What's that?

Kevin: It's called Soldiers of Rome. Me and the guys that I fought, choreograped our fights so that I wouldn't get hurt and stuff. So I hear online that everyone is saying my fight in it was a real fight and how stupid I was for that. But me and the guy Seth, who's a great guy and a good friend of mine, we choreographed it. We're professionals ya know? We fight in the ring. So it was easy for us to choreograph a kick to the thigh, a punch to the chest, you know. Nothin major. But Bob Reznik (sp?) who was the director wants to make a spin off of the movie for television. A syndicated show that is a tournament. 64 guys fight and the winner gets a million dollars. It's one of those things that is in the works, but overall the whole thing was incredible. Overall it was great. The other fight scenes in there are real, but mine was choreographed because I didn't want to risk anything.

Tony: What other business ventures do you have going on now? No one can fight forever.
Kevin: The only thing I want to do now is open a gym. It would be everything - boxing, wrestling. Because we don't have a big gym. Where we live in the midwest we don't have one and we need to have one. Where we live, there're 2.5 million people in Columbus, Ohio. All we would need is 500 of those people to join our gym and I'll be set for the rest of my life. I wanna train kids, and I wanna train athletes that wanna become somthing. I like to motivate people. I don't like to sit on my ass and watch the grass grow. I have custody of my 15 year old son now. My whole entire focus right now is to win, make some money and buy a house that is in the right school system for him and open up a gym and alway guarantee that we'll have a home and an address that people can come visit and see. At the same time I've got a very intriguing life and I'm working with some friends about putting my life on paper. Putting my life down in a book so people can kind of see what makes Kevin Randleman tick.

Tony: Now what kind of gym is that going to be? Is that going to be just for fighters or is that going to be like a fitness club?
Kevin: It's gonna be mainly a gym for fighters but at the same time it will be a fitness club. I mean, women think that it's not for them but women need to know self defense as well. We want a part for boxing, a part for cardio, a part for weight training. We're gonna have everything in there. I don't wanna say a fitness gym per say, it's gonna be a boxing gym. You come in there and you're coming in to work. It's not like one of those gyms that you come in and try to watch some girl's titties on the treadmill. It's not gonna be that kind of gym. We'll have everything though. We'll have a daycare so that parents can bring their kids, we'll have something for everybody. We've got one of the greatest police forces in the country, state troopers and you know, they'd love to come and train with us. So many guys like Renzo Gracie who could come for seminars and help me and help other people.

Tony: Alright Kevin, the last part is the name association. I'm just going to say some names to you and I want you to tell me the first thing to come to mind.
Kevin: Ok.

Tony: Wanderlei Silva
Kevin: Great fighter

Tony: Vitor Belfort
Kevin: Incredible puncher

Tony: Chuck Liddell
Kevin: All around good fighter

Tony: Rampage
Kevin: Little Brother

Tony: Tito Ortiz
Kevin: Humbled

Tony: Sakuraba
Kevin: Good Friend. And you forgot to say Randy Couture.

Tony: I'll say Randy Couture.
Kevin: He is the consumate champion. He is the epitomy of what hard work can do for you. I take my hat off to him and I respect him. I'd like to say also, that whatever people think. I don't have no bad feelings or no ill feelings towards any fighters. And whatever hype people want to make of Tito and I, you know, I love Tito. I love his wife, you know we've known each other for a long time and I know his baby is beautiful. You know, we're fighters and we're all trying to be number one. And we can be friends and stuff, but when we get in that ring it's about me kickin your ass or you kickin mine. I think Tito's gonna come back and I'm just glad that Tito's down with us guppies. He's with the pirhannas now. There's no one guy that's 'The Man.' Randy knows he's gotta work hard to keep his belt cause he knows that he can get beat. Now Tito knows that he can get beat. I know I'm not the man, Rampage knows he's not the man, Chuck, we're all fighting to get the belt. And everybody better take notice cause it's gonna be great to watch my condition unfold. I'm not gonna retire til I own one of these fuckin belts. And I will own one of these belts cause I'm one of the best fighters in the world. I beat myself by not dedicating myself and training right. I beat myself by puttin up with bulls**t. Instead of worrying about the grass growing, I should be worried about running on that grass and getting in better shape. Know what I mean?

Tony: I gotcha.
Kevin: No distractions.

Tony: Well alright Kevin! Thanks a bunch for your time, and you know, best of luck fighting Sakuraba. And I look forward to meeting you down the line.
Kevin: Thank you very much, I appreciate it. And I'll tell you what. Gimme a call next Tuesday and I'll give you another interview.

Tony: No problem. Thanks again. I'll talk to you later.
Kevin: Bye.

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